The courage to communicate: Collaborative team skills for XP/Agile teams

Communication, Feedback, Courage, Simplicity. Individuals and interactions over process and tools. Applying the values of XP/Agile approaches to software development projects highlights the shift to the critical importance of functioning well in highly collaborative team environments. The excitement of trying something new and the intense learning curve of understanding and applying the practices tends to overshadow team member interactions through the first stages of project team development. However, once XP/Agile practices become the usual way of doing business, team members frequently discover the limits of their ability to communicate and work collaboratively. Effective, collaborative communication becomes the next challenge. Three skills in particular help a team make the move from adequate work performance to high performance. Effective XP team members learn the critical collaborative skills of group decision-making, active listening and interpersonal feedback - seeking it, giving it, and receiving it well.